This was altogether a different kettle of fish next to the 97 Pavelot Doiminode. I’ve had some lovely open and friendly bottles from this case, but this wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t unfriendly, rather it was uncommunicative. Clearly cut from the same vintage cloth as the Pavelot, but tighter in all aspects – no plateau of maturity here. A little more intense in the mid-palate, but as a pure object of pleasure, bettered by the Pavelot today.

Medium, medium-plus ruby-red colour – no obvious signs of age here. The creamy-fruit nose reminds me a lot of the Bachelet ‘99? Gevrey VV from last week; there’s just a little more depth and a ‘harder’ red berry core – it’s very nice indeed, though not the usual Malconsorts spice. In the mouth there is plenty of understated concentration and similarly understated tannins though those tannins seem to keep you under surveillance the whole time the wine is in your mouth. I’d suggest another year or two in the cellar. Cooly confident fruit that has more than one dimension and lingers well on smooth acidity. After 3 hours there’s a hint of spice aroma – but the bottle is almost gone…

Medium-plus ruby-red. The nose is deep and dense with an edge of maturity, cocoa and undergrowth too – actually it reminds me of the 97 La Tâche – cool! – very Vosne. The cocoa/chocolate is apparent on the palate too, set against some fat and a lovely penetrating and slowly lingering central line of flavour. Of-course the acidity is on a relatively low level but, hence, provides no awkward shape to the wine. The tannin is velvetty and has just a trace of bitterness, but in a pleasing bitter chocolate style. The length is very impressive – maybe it was worth buying a full 12 after-all! The balance makes this quite precocious, so for drinking from now and over the next 10+ years.